Folk-Lore from South-East Suffolk

THE ANATOMY OF PUCK. An examination of fairy beliefs among Shakespeare's contemporaries and successors. By KATHERINE M. BRIGGS. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1959. Pp. 284,12 plates. Cloth 30s. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

MANUEL DE FOLKLORE FRANCAIS CONTEMPORAIN. Vol. 1, Pts. V, VI, VII, By ARNOLD VAN GENNEP. A. et J. Picard et Cie, Paris, 1951, 1953. 1958. Pp. xxviii, xxiv, xi; 2137–3166; 19, 9, 20 maps and portraits. Paper. Reviewed by H. J. Rose.

LO KUAN-CHUNG'S ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS. Translated by C. H. BREWITT-TAYLOR. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan, 1959, 2 vol. (by photo-offset). Reviewed by W. H. Hudspeth.

DEVON TRADITIONS AND FAIRY-TALES. By J. R. W. COXHEAD. The Raleigh Press, Exmouth, 1959. Pp. 122. Cloth, 10s. 6d., Paper, 6s. 6d. Reviewed by Theo Brown.

FIFTY YEARS A POTTER. By W. FISHLEY HOLLAND. IX, 105. The Caravel Press, 1958. 18s. Reviewed by R. U. Sayce.

VON PRINZEN, TROLLEN UND HERRN FRO, Märchen der europäischen Völker. Yearbook of the Society zur Pflege des Märchengutes der europäischen Völker. 4 vols. Rheine, 1956–9. Pp. 176, 176, 247, 256. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

OESTERREICHISCHER VOLKSKUNDEATLAS. Ed. by E. BURGSTALLER and A. HELBOK. ist issue (Linz, 1959). 13 maps; comments 95 pp. — Index of places pp. 125. Reviewed by E. Ettlinger.

SEEKING LIFE. By VERA LASKI. American Folklore Society, Philadelphia, 1958. Pp. 176 (mimeographed). Reviewed by Beatrice Blackwood.

THE LORE AND LANGUAGE OF SCHOOLCHILDREN. By IONA AND PETER OPIE. Oxford University Press, 1959. Pp. 417. 35s. Reviewed by Violet Alford.

THE LULLABY BOOK. By LESLIE DAIKEN. Edmund Ward Ltd, 1959. Plates and other illustrations. Reviewed by Violet Alford.

STUDIES IN FOLKLORE. Edited by W. EDSON RICHMOND. Indiana University Publications, Folklore Series, no. 9. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1957. Pp. xv, 270. Reviewed by W. B.

WELSH FOLK CUSTOMS. By TREFOR M. OWEN. Cardiff, 1959. Pp. 258. 10s. 6d. Reviewed by Raglan.     

Insect invaders of reconstructed Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow,Suffolk, England

Abstract

The insect fauna, particularly beetles (Coleoptera), of four modern reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow, Suffolk, UK, has been investigated by pitfall trapping. Modest numbers of insects were recovered from each structure. The overlap with the fauna recovered from archaeological floor deposits of about the same period was notable, being greater than predicted, since the reconstructions lacked the litter and waste believed to have been available as insect habitats in the past.     

Suffolk Place,Southwark, London: a Tudor palace and its terracotta architectural decoration

Suffolk Place (c. 1518–22), Southwark, was the London residence of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. This majestic palace is visible in the foreground of Wyngaerde’s London panorama (c. 1544), from which it can be inferred that it possessed a double courtyard plan. The southern and eastern ranges of the outer courtyard of Suffolk Place were apparently adorned with architectural terracottas at both entablature and parapet level. As the palace was demolished in 1557–58, the finds of ex-situ terracottas are a key source of information concerning the decorative scheme of this vanished palace. Petrological study and other research indicates that the terracottas were locally manufactured, implying the existence of a London-area workshop.     

Cartographic,Geophysical and Diver Surveys of the Medieval Town Site at Dunwich,Suffolk, England

This paper presents the results of an integrated historical and geophysical survey of a medieval town lost through cliff recession and coastal inundation. Key objectives included evaluating historic maps in supporting the relocation and identification of major buildings, and applying integrated multibeam, side‐scan and sub‐bottom profiling to determine the location and extent of archaeological remains. The results demonstrate that cartographic sources from 1587 onwards can be a reliable source of data to guide geophysical survey. Integration of historical mapping with geophysical data enabled identification of the remains of two medieval structures, and the tentative identification of two others. © 2010 The Authors     

The Fall of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and the Revival of Impeachment in the Parliament of 1621

The revival of impeachment in 1621 has tended to be viewed exclusively through the prism of parliament. However, this article, which builds on the work of Professor Allen Horstman, suggests that a key factor in impeachment's revival was the dismissal of Lord Treasurer Suffolk for corruption in 1618. Suffolk's removal caused widespread disquiet, since it was assumed that senior officials held office for life. In order to silence these criticisms it proved necessary for the king not only to put Suffolk on trial but also to justify by precedent the lord treasurer's removal. This latter task was performed by the former lord chief justice, Sir Edward Coke, himself not long disgraced, whose researches in the medieval parliamentary record revealed the following year that errant crown ministers had hitherto been held to account by means of impeachment. Coke subsequently put this discovery to good effect when parliament met in 1621. Against the backdrop of mounting criticism against his hated rival, the lord chancellor, Francis Bacon, Coke revealed the existence of impeachment to the house of commons, whose attention was then focused on finding a way to punish the monopolists, Sir Giles Mompesson and Sir Francis Michell. In so doing, Coke not only aided the lower House, which had been struggling since 1610 to find a way of punishing non‐members, but also sought to settle an old score.